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County, hazing case defendant reach plea agreement

BLACKFOOT — The Bingham County Prosecutor's Office said they have reached a plea agreement in the case regarding Nathan Walker, one of five former Blackfoot High School athletes charged with various misdemeanor offenses.
Walker was charged with one county of principal to battery and five charges of principal to false imprisonment, all misdemeanor charges. The charges were amended last week to identify Walker as principal in all the charges.
Walker's trial was scheduled to begin this morning. In an e-mail Monday, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Randy Smith said they had reached a plea agreement, but said he would not reveal details because the cases involving the two additional defendants are still pending trial. No date has been scheduled for sentencing.
Logan Chidester, who is charged with eight misdemeanors—two counts of battery and six counts of false imprisonment, is scheduled to begin trial March 22.
Anthony Clarke is charged with two misdemeanor counts of principal to battery and three charges of misdemeanor principal to false imprisonment. His trial is scheduled for May.
All defendants face various misdemeanor charges stemming from incidents that occurred during the 2009-2010 basketball season at Blackfoot High School.
In December, a fourth defendant—Tyson Katseanes—pleaded guilty to one count of principal to battery. Magistrate Judge Charles Roos sentenced Katseanes to a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail but ordered him to spend one overnight stay in the Bingham County jail. Katseanes was also sentenced to six months probation, 40 hours of community service and must pay court costs and a $100 fine.
The fifth defendant, a juvenile, was acquitted of all charges last month by Roos following a juvenile evidentiary hearing in which Roos found there was not enough evidence to charge the juvenile.